Entry #6: Laying out the Area

Wednesday, February 20th9:18 am
Hi guys!

It's supposed to have been 3-4 days since my last post, but since I accidentally pressed save instead of publish, it'll only have been about one day.

Anyways today I will be measuring out the areas where the chickens will have their coop. I'm planning for all the chickens to survive, in case they do, and I've researched how many square feet per chicken you need. It's roughly 2-4 feet per bird, and with 12 birds that's 24-48 square feet of chicken coop. That kind of seems like a lot but we'll see once I measure it out. I'm leaning towards around 50 square feet since they'll have outside space enclosed in chicken wire to roam around in.

I'm kind of nervous about building this coop with it still being February. If it snows and ruins the coop I have no idea what I'll do. I've been thinking about starting to build it inside my house and then transferring it outside later. On top of this I also have to make a small enclosure where they chicks can reside in while they grow to a big enough size where I can transfer them to a real coop.

On a different note I've been getting ideas for prices for supplies such as heat lamps, bird feed, containers, etc. I've posted a few links to potential things I will most likely order within the next few weeks in preparation for the chicks.

http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Cable-05968-Brooder-Heat/dp/B001EEQ5Y6/ref=sr_1_84?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1361370471&sr=1-84&keywords=heat+lamps

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant-Plastic-Hanging-PHF3/dp/B001CS2RTQ/ref=sr_1_31?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1361370932&sr=1-31&keywords=chicken+feeder

Thursday, February 21st
1:20pm

Hello again!
So I've talked to my dad and he's agreed to assist me in making a coop attached to the back of my shed, or even underneath the overhang of my porch, there the coop may be safer from predators and such.

He suggested we make the coop 8' by 8' or measurements around there. Now that I've figured out roughly the size of my chicken coop it's time that I actually start drawing out a sketch of my idea on paper, and collect the materials! I think my dad and I are going down on Saturday to look at materials and get ideas in Agway and Lowe's, and then perhaps go and actually get all the materials the next day on Sunday!

For now I'll make the sketch design of my coop with exact measurements and proportions and then upload a picture of that!